Long Beach City College lost the Western Bowl to Cerritos 35-28 on Saturday in a game full of flags and fights. Between the two teams, there were 23 penalties in total called, which costed a combined total of 231 yards.
The Vikings have regularly made it to bowl games and won them over the years, which made this loss only the second defeat in a bowl game since 2014.
The Vikings started the game off on offense and wasted no time flipping the field. Vikings wide receiver Trennel Ridgely would catch an 18 yard pass from Qeanu Campbell-Caldwell and give the Vikings the first touchdown of the game.
The Vikings chemistry was ecstatic all throughout the first quarter, cheering on their teammates and showing their appreciation for every player playing their role.
LBCC running back Keathton Jasso shouted to his teammates, “They can’t stop you O-line!”
The Falcons responded quickly with a touchdown of their own at the three minute mark in the first quarter. The Falcons attempted and failed at a two point conversion, resulting in a score of 7-6 for the remainder of the first quarter.
The start of the second quarter was intense as the Falcons scored a touchdown and two point conversion.
Both teams had spoken harshly at each other, going back and forth throughout the entirety of the game.
The energy from the Falcons home crowd was certainly an advantage as you could hear them from across the parking lot.
All seemed to be going well for the Vikings until the ball was fumbled and recovered by Cerritos middle linebacker, Aiden Chapman. This play led Cerritos to another touchdown with 54 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Attitudes changed quickly for the Vikings following the scoring drive, but there was still a positive atmosphere maintained.
With three seconds left in the second quarter Vikings receiver Kyle Miller caught a 30 yard pass from Vikings quarterback Qeanu Cambell-Caldwell giving the Vikings another touchdown to stay in the game.
By halftime the score was 21-14 in favor of the Falcons.
The third quarter was not as impactful as the two before for Cerritos as they were unable to score. However, LBCC used this quarter to put another touchdown on the board.
Running back Jonathan Watson would once again play a major role for the Vikings, scoring a touchdown at the six minute mark. The touchdown was followed by a successful field goal to put the score at 21-21.
Cerritos started the fourth quarter strong as immense pressure was felt on both sides of the teams. The Falcons would end up gaining two more touchdowns, one at the 12 minute mark and the next at the seven minute mark. The two drives would put the score at 35-21.
The Vikings got rather heated, exchanging words to the refs and the players which incurred a penalty. LBCC was able to make one last play and scored another touchdown at the two minute warning, bringing the score to 35-28, but that was not enough for the Vikings to pull through.
The Vikings were greatly disappointed and filled with emotions as they were not able to end their season the way that they hoped.
Vikings quarterback Will Madonna, who contributed all throughout the season but was not able to play in the game, had some words for his team.
“Today we felt like we played together for one of the first times, where it wasn’t one-sided like either having a really good offense or really good defense,” said Madonna.
The Western Bowl marked the end of the postseason for the Vikings who finished with a 5-6 overall record and 2-3 conference record.